Wrapping machine



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231,643 Patented Apr. 25, 1961 1 ice WRAPPING MACHINE Bengt A. Arvidson, Chicago, 11]., assignor to Miller'Wrapping & Sealing Machine Co., a corporation of Illinois Filed F eh. 26, 1957, Ser. No. 642,526

6 Claims. '(Cl. 53-206) This invention relates to a wrapping machine, and more particularly to a semiautomatic machine for wrapping a corner wrapped article.

An object of this invention is to provide a wrapping machine in which an article or package may travel straight through the machine on one level to complete the wrapping of a package by plowing of corner flaps eX- tending from ends of the package.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wrapping machine, as defined in the preceding paragraph, in which the machine has only one major adjustment for adjusting the machine to the length of article being wrapped.

to reduce ,to a minimum change-over time required for wrapping of different products and making it practical to adjust the machine for wrapping one or more articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wrapping machine having a plurality of in-line stations, the first of said stations having plows for forming tucks in the leading edges of the corner flaps extending from the ends of an article, movable tuck fingers at the station for making tucks in the trailing edges of the corner flaps, and heat sealing means for making a tack in each corner flap adjacent the end of the article being wrapped in the tucked area to stiffen the flaps and avoid dragback of the flaps as they are plowed in succeeding stations to complete the wrapping of the article.

The objects of the invention generally set forth together with other ancillary advantages are attained by the construction and arrangement shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the wrapping machine;

Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of the wrapping machine;

Fig. 3 is a side view in elevation of a part of the wrapping machine with cover plates removed to show mechanism disposed within the framework of the machine;

Fig. 4- is a fragmentary plan view on an enlarged scale showing the first station of the wrapping machine wherein tacks are formed in the corner flaps and taken generally along the line 44 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side view in elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 5A is a vertical section taken generally along the line 5a-5a in Fig. 5;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of parts of the conveyor mechanism shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a partially wrapped package in which a sheet of wrapping material has been banded about the article;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an article at the first station of the wrapping machine with the various elements at said station shown in operative relation thereto;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the article with the corner flaps folded down as performed by plows at a station following the tack forming station;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a completely wrapped article with the corner flaps heat thereof;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a movable, heat sealing plate and'tuck forming finger at the first station of the wrapping machine and which is shown in elevation in Fig. 3 of the drawings with the parts in their upper inoperative position;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 but with the heat sealing plate and tuck fingers in their lowered operative position; and

Fig. '13 is a perspective View of a movable down plow for'plowing downwardly the corner flaps of an article.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail an illustrative embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

The wrapping machine is illustrated generally at A in Figs. 1 and 2 and, although not limited thereto, may be used for wrapping a package comprising differently shaped cuts of meat or produce which have been placed. either on a tray having shallow sides or on a board with no sides. The wrapping machine A is shown in association with an initial wrapping table l which provides a location for an operator to .first place a sheet of wrapping material around the article. The wrapping table 1 may carry a plurality of trays on the shelves thereof; and one of these trays, as shown at 2, is supported on the top of the table. The tray 2 is provided with a plurality of sheets of thin wrapping material, such ascellophane, or the like, which have been treated on at least one side thereof with heat scalable material. The banding of an articleat the table 1 is done in such a way that a corner wrap is produced with corner flaps 3 and 4 extending from the ends of the article 5. This is accomplished by placing a sheet of wrapping material over the product in such a way that the straight side of the sheet is at a 45 angle to the side of the product to be wrapped. A band is then formed around the product with overlapping corners 6 and 7 of the sheet of wrapping material extending under the article, as shown in Fig. 7, so that the banded article may then be placed on a hot plate 8 supported from the table 1 by a frame 9 to heat the corners 6 and 7 of the wrapping material and seal them together.

The banding of the article at the table 1 is facilitated by a package stop 11, against which a package may be placed, with a corner of the tray '2 extending a desired distance thereunder. The table 1 has its top provided with a groove 12 in which a tongue 13 formed on the underside of the tray may slide to maintain the tray 2 in a proper diagonal position. A locating scale (not shown) has been placed at the bottom of the groove 12 to aid the operator in placing the tray in proper forward or backward position relative to the package stop 11 as required by the width of package being wrapped.

The wrapping machine A has a framework 10 which supports the wrapping mechanism. The wrapping machine has a loading station 15, a tuck forming and sealing station 16, a flap fold-down station 17, a flap foldunder station 18, and a final sealing station 19.

A banded article, after having the corners 6 and 7 sealed on the plate 8, may be placed at the loading station 15 on a pair of spaced apart guide rails 20 and between a pair of side confining guides 21. The article is moved to the tuck forming and tack sealing station 16 along the guides 20 by a pair of fingers 22, as shown in Figs. 5 and 8. Each of the fingers 22 is carried by a sealed to the bottom chain conveyor 23 passing around an idler sprocket 24 and a drive sprocket 25. Each finger 22 is pivotally mounted on its chain 23 and has a flange 26 formed to slide along a control bar 27 which functions to maintain the finger 22 in its upwardly projecting position. The control bar 27 terminates at 27a to free the end 26 of the finger 22, so that the finger 2.2 may drop downwardly and leave the banded article at the station 16. It will thus be seen that all articles are stopped with their trailing side in the same position regardless of their width as the stopping position is controlled by dropping of the fingers 22.

As a banded article moves to the station 16, the corner flaps 3 and 4 of the article have their leading edges engaged by plows 30, each of which has an inclined leading edge 30a. In order to properly locate a package edgewise, side guides 31 are provided at each side of the machine and begin in front of the station 16, so as to have the banded article properly aligned when the leading edges of the corner flaps engage the tuck plows 30. A flap guide 32 is provided at each side of the machine and is located outboard of the tuck plows 30 and at a level above the tuck plows 30 to receive and support the outer ends of the corner flaps. When the banded article has arrived at the station 16 and the fingers 22 have dropped out of engagement with the article, the,

tuck has been completed in the leading edges of the corner flaps, the tucks being shown at 35 and 36 in Fig. 8. The plows 30 function to provide interference to the leading edges of the corner flaps. The slope 30a on the leading edge of the plows 30 guarantees a roll in of the flap leading edge and also rolls it back behind the edge of an article to make the tuck. As shown in Fig. 8, some wrinkling occurs in the tucks. The flap guide 32 aids in rolling back the flap by raising the fiap up and also away from a heat plate subsequently referred to.

Tucks 52, 53 (Fig. 8) are then made in the rear trailing edges of the corner flaps by tucking fingers 42, 43 located at each side of the machine. These tucking fingers are each pivoted on a pin 40 supported on a frame element 41. The pair of fingers 42 and 43 have a common base 44 connected to the pin 40, and the base 44 carries a roller 45 which is mounted in a J-shaped slot 46, formed in a plate 47, attached to the end of an arm 48, pivoted at 49 to a frame member 50. A heat plate 51 lies between the tuck plow 30 and flap guide 32 and functions to seal the tucks 35 and 36 in the leading edges of the corner flaps and the tucks 52, 53 formed in the trailing edges of the corner flaps by the fingers 42 and 43 and tack sections of the flaps together. This scaling is accomplished by a flange 54 at the lower edge of plate 47 pressing the tucks against the hot plate 51 immediately after the tucks have been made in the trailing edges of the corner flaps by the tuck fingers.

The sealing effected by the lower edges of the plates 47 and the hot plate 51 provides approximately a oneinch-wide tack which, in conjunction with the stiffening created by the application of heat to the cellophane, makes a stiffer corner flap to enable subsequent completion of the folding operation with movement of the article along a straight line a straight through plow operation without drag-back of the flaps. A little wrinkle is provided in both the tucks formed in the leading and trailing edges of the corner flap so as to bring coated surfaces of the cellophane against each other, which is necessary when the cellophane has been coated only on one side with heat scalable material. The articles move from sta-.

tion 16 in a single movement through station 17 where the corner flaps are folded downwardly so as to extend vertically downward from the ends of the article, as shown in Fig. 9, then to station 18 where inwardly angled plows 55 and 56 (Fig. l), which may be heated, fold the corner flaps under the article, as shown in Fig. 10, so that the article may then be advanced onto a hot plate 57 at station 19 where the corner flaps are finally 4 heat sealed to the wrapping material on the bottom of the article. l

The drive for the various conveyors and for the movable tuck fingers 42, 43 on each side of the machine is derived from a motor 60. The motor 60 through a belt 61 drives a speed reducer 62 having an output gear 63 for driving a chain 64 for driving a shaft 65 extending transversely of the framework 10. The shaft 65 has a sprocket 66 for driving a chain 67 which passes around around idlers 68 and 69 and engages a driven sprocket 70 on a shaft 71. The shaft 71 which extends across the machine has a similar sprocket 72 at each end thereof for driving overhead conveyor mechanism including a driven sprocket 73 (Fig. 3) by means of a chain 75 extending therebetween and a corresponding chain and sprocket, not shown. The drive shaft 65 also has a sprocket 76 for driving a chain 77 which drives a sprocket 78 on a shaft 79 carrying the sprockets 25 for the article conveying chains 23, previously referred to. The drive shaft 65 has a cam 80 cooperating with a cam follower 81 carried on an arm 82 fixed to a sleeve 33 extending transversely of and pivoted on the framework, as shown at 84. An arm 85 extends from opposite ends of the sleeve 83, and each arm is pivotally and slidably connected to a vertically extending link 86 which extends upwardly and is pivotally connected with one of the arms 48. The arms 85 have a transverse rod 87 extending therebetween on which the links 86 are slidably mounted. The cam 80 functions to lower the plates 47 against the action of a spring 88 at each side of the machine to move the tuck fingers 42 and 43 to make a tuck and then to heat seal the tucks after an article has arrived at station 16 in timed relation with operation of the conveyor 23.

The machine may be adjusted to handle different length articles by merely turning a hand wheel 90 which may be connected to either end of a shaft 91 mounted in the framework 10 and having opposite threaded sections 92 and 93. Adjustable subframes 94 and 95 are mounted on the threaded sections 92 and 93, respectively, of the shaft 91 and a corresponding shaft 96, shown in Fig. 3, connected to the shaft 91 by a chain 97. The subframes 94 and '95 are provided with bearings, as shownat and 101, slidable on a bearing shaft 102 extending across the framework :10 and similar bearings, not shown, slid able on a bearing shaft 103, as shown in Fig. 3.

Rotation of the shaft 9-1 will result in either moving the subframes 94 and 95 toward each other or away from each other depending upon the direction of rotation. These subframes carry the article guides 20, the lead end conveyors 23, the side guides 21 and 31, the tack forming mechanism at station 16, the fold-down mechanism for the flaps at station 17, the support brackets 50 for the pivoted arms 48, as well as the vertically extending links 86 for operating the heat-seal plates 47.

It will be seen that a single adjustment enables setting up of the machine for a desired length of package, and this length may be indicated along a scale 104 supported on the framework 10 along which a pointer 105 carried on the subframe 95 travels.

The fold-down mechanism for the flaps provided at station 17 is shown at Fig. 13, and also in Fig. 3. This mechanism comprises a plow in the form of a plate pivotally mounted on an inclined rod 111 by collars 112 and 113 secured to the plate and rotatable on the rod 111. The plow has been formed as a pivoted member to enable the plowing down of corner flaps when the article is either a board or a tray, as referred to previously. The guiding in either case is by the side guides 31 and, because of the diiferent shape of the tray as compared to the board, the turn-down of the corner flaps will occur at different distances relative to the side guides. For an article including a board, the plowing down of the corner flaps will be done by an inner edge 114 of the down plow 1 10. When an article including a tray having an outwardly inclined side approaches the down plow, the plow will be pivoted to a position with the plate 110 vertical, as shown in dotted line in Fig. 13, and the face of this plate will form the plow surface. The face of the plate forms a plow surface at a greater distance from the side guides than the edge 114 of the plate.

A pull-through and hold-down conveyor mechanism is disposed above the wrapping machine stations previously described and is driven by the chain 75 driving the sprocket 73 and another similar chain and sprocket on shaft 71, as previously described. The chain and'sprocket mechanism, as shown in Fig. 3, includes two pairs of laterally spaced chains, one chain of each pair being indicated at 115 and 116, respectively. Each of the chains passes around its independently mounted sprockets. As shown in Fig. 3, the chain 115 passes around sprockets 1 17, 118, 1 19 and 120, while the chain 116 passes around sprockets 121, 122, 123 and 124. The chain 115 and the associated chain in the same pair are driven by a chain 125 connecting the chains 115 and 116 and a similar chain (not shown) connecting the other chain of each pair (not shown).

The pairs of chains including chains 115 and 116 support a frame having downwardly extending paddles 130, 131, 132 and 133 which travel in a four-way motion toward and away from articles on the guide rails 20 and back and forth in the directionof travel of articles along the rail. The paddles 130 and 131 and the paddles 132 and 133 each has a hold-down plate 134, as shown in Fig. 3, having lugs 134a and 134b which is mounted for vertical movement along the height of the paddles between paddle arms 132a, 132b, 133a and 133b so as to accommodate different heights of articles. The paddles 130 and 132 when lowered function to engage behind an article and move articles along the machine until they move vertically away from articles in their four-way motion.

Although not necessary for satisfactory operation, the plows 30 and side guides 31 may be adjusted vertically for use with either a tray or a board by operation of a handle 150 (Fig. 3) connected to a bell crank 151, an arm of which engages an adjustable pin 152 carried on a plate 153 mounted for movement on and relative to sub- -frame 95 by pin and slot connections 154 and 155. The plate 153 carries one plow 30 and one side guide 31. The plow 30 and side guide 31 on the opposite side of the machine are adjusted simultaneously by a similar bell crank (not shown) for operating a movable plate 156, to which the plow and side guide are attached. The bell crank on opposite sides may be connected by a common pivot shaft (not shown) for simultaneous movement.

I claim:

l. A wrapping machine for making corner wraps in a thin wrapping-material such as cellophane or the like banded about an article and having corner flaps extending from the opposite ends thereof, comprising, means for making a narrow tack in each extended corner flap primary to plow operations for completing the wrap comprising means for advancing an article to a tack station, a plow adjacent each end of the article for placing a tuck in the leading edge of the corner flaps as the article is advanced to the station, means operative upon the article when at the station to place tucks in the trailing edges of the corner flaps, and means for heat sealing a portion of the extended corner flaps including the tucked portions while engaged by the plows and the tuck placing means to make a tack to strengthen the extended corner flaps and to avoid drag back thereof in succeeding plow operations.

2. A wrapping machine for making corner wraps in a thin wrapping material such as cellophane or the like banded about an article and having corner flaps extending from the opposite ends thereof, comprising, means at spaced in-line stations for making the corner wraps in successive plow operations, means for advancing successive articles through the stations, a plow having an inclined leading edge for placing a tuck in the leading edge of each corner flap as an article is advanced to a first station, means for supporting the corner flaps in extended position as the article is advanced to the first station, a pair of movably mounted tuck fingers at the first station associated one with each end of an article and swingable to make a tuck in the trailing edge of each corner flap, and heat sealing means for making a tack seal in said tucked areas of the corner flaps including a hot plate underlying each corner flap and downwardly movable presser plates for pressing sections of the corner flaps against the hot plate.

3. A wrapping machine as defined in claim 2, including connections between the heat sealing means and the tuck fingers for moving the tuck fingers in response to movement of the presser plates.

4. A wrapping machine for making corner wraps in a thin wrapping material such as cellophane or the like banded about an article and having corner flaps extending from the opposite ends thereof, comprising, means at spaced in-line stations for making the corner wraps from the corner flaps in successive plow operations, means for advancing successive articles through the stations, a plow for placing a tuck in the leading edge of each corner flap as an article is advanced to a first station, means for supporting the corner flaps in extended position as the article is advanced to the first station, tuck finger means at the first station associated with each end of an article and movable to make a tuck in the trailing edge of each corner flap, and heat sealing means for making a tack seal in said tucked areas of the corner flaps including a hot plate underlying each corner flap and downwardly movable presser plates for pressing the tucks against the hot plate.

5. A wrapping machine in which a series of stations are provided for wrapping an article by plowing of corner flaps in a wrapping material banded about the article comprising, in combination, means for advancing articles through said stations including an overhead conveyor mechanism, said conveyor mechanism having a pair of downwardly extending paddles adapted for disposition in front of and behind an article, a plateextended between the paddles and mounted for movement along the length of the paddles to engage articles'of varying heights, and means for moving the paddles through a four-way motion toward and away from the articles and back and forth along the direction of article travel.

6. A wrapping machine in which a series of stations are provided for wrapping an article comprising, in combination, means for advancing articles through and be yond said machine including an overhead conveyor mechanism, said conveyor mechanism having a plurality of pairs of downwardly extending bifurcated paddles adapted for disposition in front of and behind successive articles, a plate extended between each pair of paddles and having lugs guided by the paddles for vertical movement along the length of the paddles to engage articles of varying heights, and means for moving the paddles through a four-way motion toward and away from the articles and back and forth along the direction of article travel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 682,817 Shaner Sept. 17, 1901 1,159,934 Haas NOV. 9, 1915 1,953,097 Becker Apr. 3, 1934 2,050,268 Bronander Aug. 11, 1936 2,142,505 Gammeter Jan. 3, 1939 2,171,459 Thompson Aug. 29, 1939 2,390,107 Kucklinsky Dec. 4, 1945 2,840,962 Stremke July 1, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 365,149 I Germany Dec. 9, 1922 

